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27 Apr 2004 : Column 965W—continued

Brazil

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the refusal of Brazil to allow access for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to its uranium enrichment plant. [166880]

Mr. MacShane: The Government understand that negotiations are continuing between the Government of Brazil and the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the appropriate safeguards to be applied to Brazil's uranium enrichment facilities. We are not aware of access having been denied to inspectors.

Departmental Employment Policy

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many locally-engaged employees his Department has employed in overseas countries in each year since 1997. [166920]

Mr. Rammell: The number of locally engaged staff employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in overseas countries in each year since 2000 is as follows.
 
27 Apr 2004 : Column 966W
 

	Number of staff
2000	8,794
2001	8,771
2002	9,156
2003	9,471

The above information is based on the authorised establishment i.e. jobs not headcount expressed as full time equivalents

Numbers for the years 1997 to 1999 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Dominican Republic

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK citizens are in prison in the Dominican Republic. [167284]

Date answered 27 April 2004

Mr. Mullin: At present, there is one British Citizen and two British Overseas Territories Citizens (both from Bermuda) in prison in the Dominican Republic.

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of the Dominican Republic to seek the release from prison of Miss Marianne Telfer, of Colchester; and if he will make a statement. [167285]

Mr. Mullin: Since Miss Telfer's arrest in February, both she and her family have been receiving all appropriate consular assistance from our Consular Directorate in London and our Embassy in Santo Domingo.

Our Ambassador in Santo Domingo called on the Attorney General on 13 April to register our continuing interest in Miss Telfer's case and sought clarification of the next steps. Our Ambassador also met officials from Fair Trials Abroad during their recent visit to the Dominican Republic in connection with her arrest.

Miss Telfer's lawyers have requested a re-hearing of her Habeus Corpus appeal. We will continue to monitor the case at the highest levels and provide the Telfer family with all possible consular assistance.

European Constitution

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the proposed European constitution takes into consideration cultural and religious diversity. [168287]

Mr. MacShane: Yes.

Gibraltar

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will undertake to give the people of Gibraltar the opportunity to vote in the proposed referendum on the EU constitution. [168824]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 26 April 2004]:The Government are currently considering this matter.

Middle East

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Israeli counterparts in respect of the killing
 
27 Apr 2004 : Column 967W
 
of Abdel-Aziz Al-Rantissi in Gaza City on 17 April 2004 as a result of a missile fired by an Israeli military helicopter. [167369]

Mr. Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has repeatedly said that the Israeli policy of   targeted assassinations is illegal, unjustified and counter-productive. He reiterated this after the killing of Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi. Both parties must refrain from actions that may further escalate tensions, including any more such killings.

Money Laundering (Gulf States)

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support the Government give to efforts to tackle money laundering in the Gulf States. [168571]

Mr. Rammell: The Government support international efforts to counter money laundering, in the Gulf as elsewhere, through our membership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The FATF sets the international standards on anti-money laundering measures and monitors members' progress in implementing the necessary measures through a process of mutual evaluation.

We welcome the positive steps taken recently by the Gulf States, and others in the region, to establish a FATF-style regional body. If approved by political leaders, this will include all Gulf States in a FATF-style process and will allow for greater regional ownership of anti-money laundering efforts.

The Government also provide financial and technical assistance on a bilateral basis. In March this year, we provided an independent expert to take part in a joint IMF-World Bank financial sector report on the UAE.

Under-12 Concession

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when information on the decision to withdraw the concession for under-12s to join a parent in the UK was posted on the Foreign Office website. [167968]

Mr. Mullin: UKvisas do not keep a log of each change that is made to their website. However, the webpage containing procedures for settlement entry of children, and the concession for under-12s, was last updated on 12 February 2004. The information was therefore posted before 12 February 2004.

Western Sahara

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with the Spanish Government their policy on the Western Sahara. [168248]

Mr. Rammell: The Government have consistently supported the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and James Baker, his Personal Envoy, to find a solution to the dispute over Western Sahara. We are awaiting the Secretary-General's next report on the Western Sahara, due for release this month. There are currently no plans to discuss with the Spanish Government their policy on the Western Sahara.
 
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EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Literacy/Numeracy (Manchester)

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what public funding has been spent on adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy in Manchester, Gorton in each of the last five years. [167457]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The estimated total spend on Skills For Life (the Government's strategy for literacy, language and numeracy needs of all post-16 learners from pre-entry level up to and including level 2) and on   Key Skills (essential skills of communication, application of number and information technology), from April 2001 to July 2003, in the Greater Manchester Learning and Skills Council (LSC) area is set out in the following table:
£ thousand

	Basic skills	Key skills
April 2001 to July 2001(24)	8,925	2,598
August 2001 to July 2002	15,369	3,586
August 2002 to July 2003	27,258	4,210

⁽²⁴⁾ The figures for April to July 2001 include costs incurred from August 2000 on learning aims continuing into April 2001.

From the information available to the LSC it has not been feasible to obtain estimates at constituency level or   separate figures by subject without incurring disproportionate cost. Likewise it has not been feasible to obtain comparable figures for periods before April 2001 when the Skills for Life strategy was launched and the LSC was formed, but information shows it was considerably less than at present.

Advanced Vocational Certificate

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils (a) were enrolled to take, (b) were awarded a pass in and (c) have dropped out from the advanced vocational certificate of education course, in each subject in each year since 2002. [165863]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The figures in Table 1 and Table 2 are derived from data collected annually for the Secondary School and College Performance Tables.
Table 1: Entries and passes at the Vocational Certificate of Education (advanced level) by students of all ages.

	2002		2003
Subject	Entries	Passes	Entries	Passes
Art and Design	1,496	1,230	1,165	970
Business	7,623	6,166	9,000	7,049
Health and Social Care	4,029	3,478	5,335	4,547
Manufacturing	53	30	40	26
Construction	166	145	156	104
Hospitality and Catering	241	218	171	141
Science	565	440	511	381
Engineering	477	366	425	340
Information Technology	8,419	6,858	11,788	9,624
Media: Communication and       Production	665	548	841	674
Retail and Distribution	263	196	213	164
Performing Arts	557	488	650	588
Leisure and Recreation	1,787	1,496	1,923	1,558
Travel and Tourism	3,331	2,877	3,872	3,146
Total	29,672	24,536	36,090	29,312

 
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Table 2: Entries and passes at the Vocational Certificate of Education (advanced level) double award by students of all ages.

	2002		2003
Subject	Entries	Passes	Entries	Passes
Art and Design	3,981	3,466	3,337	3,064
Business	11,660	9,304	10,042	8,259
Health and Social Care	6,013	5,078	6,086	5,463
Manufacturing	38	33	25	21
Construction	425	332	460	337
Hospitality and Catering	577	514	560	496
Science	1,137	897	1,067	896
Engineering	1,004	646	998	731
Information Technology	7,267	5,800	8,515	7,167
Media: Communication and       Production	1,470	1,210	1,378	1,186
Performing Arts	595	543	582	523
Leisure and Recreation	2,684	2,109	2,436	2,057
Travel and Tourism	5,040	4,140	4,894	4,171
Total	41,891	34,072	40,380	34,371

The DfES does not have statistics on enrolments or drop out rates for individual subjects. The figures supplied count only those students that were entered for the examination.

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